In a scandal broadcast far and wide by book-blogs Bookslut and Bookninja, children from homeless shelters in Indiana’s Porter County are having their library cards taken away and their lending priviliges revoked, according to the Post-Tribune.

Porter County has placed new restrictions on library access for people living in shelters, citing homeless people’s shoddy return record. The article says, “In a letter dated May 11, the library informed Porter County shelters their residents will face restrictions after the library claims it lost more than $4,000 worth of books and audio-visual materials in the last four to five years because of temporary shelter residents who failed to return the items.”

Their new policy will only allow adults to get temporary library cards and sign out three items at a time, while children and teens are not allowed to get a library card at all.

Spring Valley Shelter director Tom Isakson says, “Our clients need the library more than the average citizen. We’re serving low-income people, and they can’t go to a book store and purchase books as freely as many residents of Porter County do.”

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